IR 05000461/1997003

Discusses Insp Rept 50-461/97-03 on 970106-0307 & Forwards NOV & Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalties in Amount of $110,000 for Violations Noted

ML20217P282
Person / Time
Site:	Clinton
Issue date:	08/01/1997
From:	Beach A NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
To:	Jackie Cook ILLINOIS POWER CO.
Shared Package
ML20217P287	List: IR 05000461/1997003 ML20217P302
References
50-461-97-03, 50-461-97-3, EA-97-132, NUDOCS 9708270131
Download: ML20217P282 (4)

Text

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UNITED STATES 7be s ** C ._oq\,,

NUCLEAR RECULATORY COMMISSION O

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REGloN 111 801 WARRENVILLE ROAD

.y - / USLE. ILUNotS 60532-4351

• • '* August 1, 1997 EA 97132 Mr. John Senior Vice President Illinois Power Company I

500 S. 27th Street Decatur, IL 62525 '97 E 11 Al0:59 SUBJECT: NOllCE OF VIOLWIlON ANRRBQPQSED IMPOSIT! J N OF civil PENALTIES

- $110,000 (NRC Engineering and Technical Support and Startup Readiness inspection Report 50-461/97003(DRS)) ,

Dear Mr. Cook:

This refers to the inspection conducted from January 6,1997, through March 7,1997, at the Clinton Power Station (CPS). The inspection included aspects of engineering and technical support and selected startup readiness review action items. An exit for the inspection was conducted on March 7,1997. A predecisional enforcement conference was conducted on May 15,1997, to discuss issues related to safety related electrical breaker maintenance.

Based on the information developed during the inspection and the information CPS provided during the predecisional enforcement conference, the NRC has determined that a significant violation of NRC requirements occurred. The enclosure contains a Notice of Violation and Proposed imposition of Civil Penalties (Notice) that describe the violation. The circumstances surrounding the violation are described in detailin the subject inspection report.

The violation represents a significant program breakdown in that assurance was lost in that safety related electrical breakers would function if required. Both industry information and a previous related violation should have triggered broad scoped corrective actions to identify, correct, and prevent electrical breaker degradation. Failure to aggressively implement the reauirements of 10 CFR 50, Appendix B, resulted in inadequate corrective action for a longstanding equipment problem and the serious degradation of safety related electrical breakers, in accordance with the Enforcement Policy, a base civil penalty in the amount of $55,000 is considered for a Severity Levelill violation. Because Clinton has been the subject of escalated enforcement actions within the last two years,' the NRC considered whether credit was warranted for identification and Corrective Action in accordance with the civil penalty assessment process in Section VI.B.2 of the Enforcement Policy. The NRC determined that credit for y.

' Enforcement actions96-412. 97-001 and 97 0o2 were issued June 9,1997. for issues related to the September 1996 seal f ailure event, the Division til emergency diesel and feedwater isolation valves. ( (

9708270131 970001 l Ull!llijligl Li lillilliIl PDR ADOCK 05000461 i **.i G PDR /

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, identification was not warranted because the issue was identified by the NRC during an inspection. Corrective actions described at +he predecisional enforcement conference included establishment of a team to focus attention on breakus, a refurbishment plan for GE, Westinghouse, and ABB breakers, reviews of industry information, an improved review process for vendor information, a lowered threshold for condition reports, procedure improvements to specify lubricsnts, increased supervisory presence in the field, and training on procedure compliance. Your staff also discussed a maintenance review group responsible for tracking equipment f ailures and detailed system reviews to be performed over a five-year period. While these actions appeared adequate to restore the condition of the breakers, your staff did not address the broader problem of repetitive equipment failure:. Specifically, CPS did not look at maintenance work requests or other equipment failuro data to determine if there was a history of repetitive problems with other components. Therefore, credit for corrective action was not warranted.

I have been authorized, after consultation with the Director, Office' of Enforcement, to issue the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in the amount of $110,000.

The need for this action is to emphasize the importance of strong and broad scope corrective action when deficiencies are identified relative to safety related equipment.

You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing your response, in your response, you should document the

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specific actions taken and any additional actions you plan to prevent recurrence. After reviewing j your response to this Notice, including your proposed corrective actions and the results of future inspections, the NRC will determine whether further NRC enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with NRC regulatory requirements. I further note that my staff continues to review activities at CPS, end further enforcement actions may be taken if additional violations are identified, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter,its enclosure (s), and your response will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR).

Sincerely, ac. t I

/A. Bill Beach Regional Administrator Docket No. 50-461 License No. NPF-62 Enclosure: Notice of Violation and Proposed imposition of Civil Penalties I

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cc w/encls: W. Romberg, Clinton Power Station

- P. Yocum, Plant Manager

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Clinton Power Station ,

F R. Pha_res, Manager Nuclear Assessment

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J. Sipek, Director - Licensing Nathan Schloss, Economist

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Office of the Attorney General G. Stramback, Regulatory Licensing

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Services Project Manager-General Electric Company i Chairman, DeWitt County Board State Liaison Officer Chairman, Illinois Commerce Commission

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$ECY CA L. Callan, EDO A. Thadani, DEDE -

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L. Chundler, OGC J. Goldberg, OGC '

S. Collins, NRR -

R. Zimmerman, NRR Enforcement Coordinators Rl, Ril and R!V SRI Clinton, Dresden, LaSalle,

and Quad Cities T. Pruett, RIV -

G. Marcus, NRR-D. Pickett, NRR

- J. Gilliland, OPA-H. Bell, OlG G. Caputo, 01 L. Tremper, OC '

O. Ross, AEOD OE:ES OE:EA (2)

G. Johnson, OC/DAF RAO:Rlli SLO:Rl!I

' PAO: Rill OC/LFDCB '

DRP '

Docket File

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